Temping soldiers

This refers to your editorial, 8216;To serve to benefit8217;. Given the infrastructure we have, training cadets for short service commissions...

8226; This refers to your editorial, 8216;To serve 038; to benefit8217;. Given the infrastructure we have, training cadets for short service commissions will be nearly impossible under the present circumstances. That will increase the training period of the cadets considerably. Moreover, the shortage is so huge that normal induction will not be able to make up the shortage. A temporary commission for serving Central and state government employees for a five-year period with lien on their job is a possible alternative. The upper age limit for the commission could be 30 years. Those who are found suitable can be granted permanent commissions after five years. Two inductions of 500 temporary commission officers should take care of the current shortage of officers in the Indian army.

8212; Lt Col H.S. Gur retd

Hisar

Today8217;s dynasts

8226; Your editorial, 8216;Vote for/against Modi8217; is indeed a clarion call to foster real intra-party democracy. Because of dynasticism in every party except the Leftists and the BJP, our system has become more feudalistic than democratic. The genesis of this malady lies in the Congress party, which became the handmaiden of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty after the death of Sardar Patel in 1950 and the elevation of Dr Rajendra Prasad to the presidency. It is high time we built institutions that would bar a son, daughter or wife of a leader to claim their 8216;political legacy8217; as a matter of divine right.

8212; Prem Behari

Lucknow

Caste colour

8226; I have carefully read Anne Applebaum8217;s Washington Post article. To say, 8220;The Indian caste system has an element of skin-colour discrimination,8221; is ignorant of the social revolution brought about by Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian Constitution. There is a virtual race in India to be included in the 8220;backward8221; classes or SC/ST categories because of the policy of reservations for them in jobs as well as for admission into educational institutions. The only class that is 8220;victimised8221; at the ground level is the so-called forward caste, whose light skin colour is a cause for exclusion, despite merit, from jobs or education.

8212; Parimal Y. Mehta

Mumbai

Culture canvas

8226; The National Culture Policy has called for public action for promoting and nurturing plurality. This overlooks the unity of Indian culture that has evolved over centuries, transcending the barriers of geographical distance and different languages, castes, sects and religions. The terms 8216;multiculturalism8217; and 8216;plurality8217; are not appropriate for the Indian cultural scene. We have cultural diversity, but as variations on an identical theme. The National Cultural Policy should aim at promoting culture that we share with the people of greater South Asia, despite political divisions.

8212; P.R. Dubhashi

Pune